UPDATED 08:17 EDT / OCTOBER 22 2013

NEWS

Nokia Lumia 1520 & 1320 vs. The Other Fat Phablets

Nokia is really going out with a bang.  Just months before it gets gobbled up by Microsoft, the Finnish company unveiled a number of products at Nokia World in Abu Dhabi today.  For the first time, Nokia now has phablets and a tablet to offer for consumers.  Good way to end its run, wouldn’t you say?

Let’s check out what Nokia has to offer in the tablet realm, will it be able to amaze consumers with its features?  Or would it be like other phablets, overshadowed by Samsung’s offerings? Kudos to Nokia for offering two phablets, one directed at the high-end market, the other at the low to mid range market.

 

Design

 

Nokia Lumia 1520:  The phone features ceramic keys, subdued icons in the front, and will be available in four colors: white, yellow, red, and black, with the black version made up of recycled materials.

Nokia Lumia 1320:  The phone features ceramic keys, subdued icons in the front, and will be available in four colors: white, yellow, red, and black, with the black version made up of recycled materials.

Samsung Galaxy Note III:  It’s bigger but slimmer with a new back cover.  Contrary to most Galaxy devices, the Noe III features a matte leather removable back cover, but the sides of the device is still plastic though it may look like it’s made of metal.  Though the leather makes it look more sophisticated, the presence of the stitches removes some of the elegance.

Samsung Galaxy MEGA: Special polycarbonate body, slim bezel, wide display

Sony Xperia Z Ultra: The front and back are made of tempered glass, creating a seamless surface with the OptiContrast panel housed in an innovative solid metal frame which looks stunning from any angle. It features the same acclaimed OmniBalance design as Xperia Z and Tablet Z. The Xperia Z Ultra is available in a choice of black, white or purple colour finishes.

LG Optimus G Pro: Smooth metallic highlights done with Laser Cut Contour and a unibody with a clean finish

HTC Butterfly S: Glossy plastic shell that comes in grey, white and red.

Dimensions

 

Lumia 1520: Height 162.8 mm x Width 85.4 mm x Depth 8.7 mm, Weight 209 g

Lumia 1320:  164.2 x 85.9 x 9.8 mm, 220 g

Galaxy Note III: 151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm, 168 grams

Galaxy MEGA: 167.6 x 88.0 x 8.0mm, 199g

Xperia Z Ultra: 179.4 x 92.2 x 6.5, 212g

Optimus G Pro: 150.2 x 76.1 x 9.4 mm, 172 g

Butterfly S: 144.5 x 70.5 x 10.6mm, 160g

Display

 

Lumia 1520: 6” Full HD (1920 x 1080), 368 ppi, ClearBlack, IPS LCD, super sensitive touch, Gorilla Glass 2, Sunlight readability enhancements, Nokia Glance screen, Lumia Color profile

Lumia 1320: 6” HD720 (1280 x 720), 245 ppi, ClearBlack, IPS LCD, Super sensitive touch, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, Sunlight readability enhancements, Lumia Color profile

Galaxy Note III: 5.7inch (144.3mm)  Full HD Super AMOLED (1920 x 1080)

Galaxy MEGA: 16cm(6.3) HD Super Clear LCD

Xperia Z Ultra: 6.4” Full HD TRILUMINOS™ Display for mobile powered by X-Reality™ for mobile engine for the ultimate big screen entertainment experience

Optimus G Pro: True Full HD IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.5 inches (~401 ppi pixel density), multitouch

Butterfly S: 5.0 inch Full HD 1080p, 440PPI, Corning® Gorilla®Glass 3

Processor

 

Lumia 1520: Quad-core 2.2 GHz, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800

Lumia 1320: Dual-core 1.7 GHz, Qualcomm Snapdragon S4

Galaxy Note III: LTE – 2.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor, 3G – 1.9 GHz Octa Core  Processor ( A15 1.9 GHz + A7 1.3 GHz)

Galaxy MEGA: 1.7GHz Dual Core

Xperia Z Ultra: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 800 processor with 2.2 GHz quad-core CPUs and 4G LTE for fast performance

Optimus G Pro: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 600 Processor with 1.7Ghz Quad-Core CPUs

Butterfly S: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 600, quad-core, 1.9GHz

 

Memory

 

Lumia 1520: 32GB, can be expanded with microSD to up to 64GB, 2GB RAM, 7GB free SkyDrive storage

Lumia 1320: 8 GB, can be expanded with microSD to up to 64GB, 1GB RAM, 7GB free SkyDrive storage.

Galaxy Note III: 32/ 64 GB User memory + microSD slot (up to 64GB), 3GB RAM

Galaxy MEGA: 16GB, microSD upgradable to up to 64GB, 1.5GB RAM

Xperia Z Ultra: 16GB storage, microSD card slot up to 64GB, 2GB RAM

Optimus G Pro: 32 GB, upgradable with 64GB microSD, 2GB RAM

Butterfly S: 16GB, upgradable with up to 64GB micorSD, 2GB RAM

Camera

 

Lumia 1520: 20MP PureView rear camera, Zeiss optics, dual LED flash, Optical image stabilization, Backside-illuminated image sensor, 6-lens optics, High resolution zoom 2x; front camera features HD 1.2 MP wide angle, video recording, still image capture, and video call

Lumia 1320: 5 MP rear camera, LED flash, Touch focus, Landscape orientation, Auto and manual exposure, Auto and manual white balance, Active toolbar, Full screen viewfinder, Geotagging, Automatic photo upload to web services, Full resolution photo and video upload, Creative Studio; front camera features 640 x 480 pixels, video recording, still image capture, and video call

Galaxy Note III: 13MP rear camera with BSI Sensor, Auto Focus camera with Smart Stabilization, LED Flash(High CRI), and Zero Shutter Lag; 2MP front camera with BSI sensor with Smart Stabilization, Full HD recording @30fps.  Features: Dual Camera – Dual Shot / Dual Recording/ Dual Video Call; Recording – UHD 30fps, Smooth motion (FHD 60fps), Slow motion (HD 120fps); and Camera Modes – Drama Shot, Sound & Shot, Animated Photo, Eraser, Best Photo, Best Face, Beauty Face, HDR (High Dynamic Range), Panorama, Sports, Golf, Surround shot, Live effect.

Galaxy MEGA: 8MP AF w/Flash + 1.9MP

Xperia Z Ultra: 8 megapixel camera with “Exmor RS for mobile” sensor and HDR for videos and photos, 2MP front-facing camera with FullHD video capture

Optimus G Pro: rear camera – 13 MP, autofocus, LED flash, front camera –  2.1 MP, 1080p@30fps, geo-tagging, face detection, image stabilization, Smart Shutter, Time Catch Shot, Cheese Shutter, Live Effects,

Butterfly S: HTC UltraPixel Camera, BSI sensor, Pixel size 2.0 µm, Sensor size 1/3″, Dedicated HTC ImageChip 2, F2.0 aperture and 28 mm lens, Smart Flash – Five levels of flash automatically set by distance to subject, 2.1 MP front camera with wide angle lens and HDR capability, 1080p Full HD video recording with HDR Video, HTC Zoe with Sequence Shot, Always Smile and Object Removal, Gallery with Video Highlights and HTC Share, Continuous shooting and VideoPic, Slow motion video recording with variable speed playback

Battery Life

 

Lumia 1520: 3400 mAh, Maximum standby time: 32 days, Maximum talk time (2G): 27.4 h, Maximum talk time (3G): 25.1 h, Maximum music playback time: 124 h, Maximum video playback time: 10.8 h, Maximum Wi-Fi network browsing time: 13.6 h

Lumia 1320: 3400 mAh, Maximum standby time: 28 days, Maximum talk time (2G): 25 h, Maximum talk time (3G): 21 h, Maximum music playback time: 98 h, Maximum video playback time: 9 h, Maximum Wi-Fi network browsing time: 11.5 h

Galaxy Note III: Standard battery, Li-ion 3,200 mAh

Galaxy MEGA: removable 3200mAh battery

Xperia Z Ultra: 3,000mAh

Optimus G Pro:  Li-Po 3140 mAh battery

Butterfly S:  rechargeable Li-polymer battery, 3200 mAh; Talk time – Up to 25 hours for WCDMA, Up to 29 hours for GSM, Standby time – Up to 659 hours for WCDMA, Up to 544 hours for GSM

Wireless and Connectivity

 

Lumia 1520: Micro-USB, 3.5 mm audio connector, Micro-USB-B, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.0, WLAN IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Secure NFC for payment, Sharing, Pairing, Tagging, Wi-Fi Channel bonding

Lumia 1320: Micro-USB, 3.5 mm audio connector, Micro-USB-B, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.0, WLAN IEEE 802.11 b/g/n

Galaxy Note III: WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (HT80), NFC,  Bluetooth v 4.0 (LE), IR LED (Remote Control), MHL 2.0, microUSB, 3.5mm ear jack

Galaxy MEGA: BT 4.0 LE, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac,NFC(UICC, eSE), Micro USB, 3.5mm ear-jack

Galaxy Note II: Bluetooth® v 4.0 (Apt-X Codec support) LE, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz), Wi-Fi HT40, Wi-Fi Direct, NFC, S Beam, Samsung AllShare Play & Control, Samsung AllShare Cast (WiFi Display), Mirroring & Extention, Samsung AllShare Framework

Xperia Z Ultra: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, standard microUSB port with MHL and USB host, 3.5mm jack

Optimus G Pro: 4G LTE, GPRS, EDGE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, Infrared port, 3.5mm jack, micro USB

Butterfly S: NFC capable, Compliant with Bluetooth 4.0, Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX enabled, Wi-Fi – IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, DLNA for wirelessly streaming media from the phone to a compatible TV or computer, Miracast wireless display standard, Support consumer infrared remote control, 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, micro-USB 2.0

Operating System

 

Lumia 1520: Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Black

Lumia 1320: Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Black

Galaxy Note III: Android 4.3 Jelly Bean

Galaxy MEGA: Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

Xperia Z Ultra: Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

Optimus G Pro: Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean

Butterfly S: Android with HTC Sense, HTC BlinkFeed

Sensors

 

Lumia 1520: Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Proximity sensor, Magnetometer

Lumia 1320: Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, Magnetometer

Galaxy Note III: Gesture, Accelerometer, Geo-magnetic, Gyroscope, RGB, Proximity, Barometer, Temperature & Humidity, Hall Sensor

Galaxy MEGA: accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass and ambient light sensors

Xperia Z Ultra: No information yet

Optimus G Pro: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass

Butterfly S: Gyro sensor, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor

SIM Card

 

Lumia 1520: Nano SIM

Lumia 1320: Micro SIM

Galaxy Note III: Micro SIM

Galaxy MEGA: micro SIM

Xperia Z Ultra: micro SIM

Optimus G Pro: Micro SIM

Butterfly S: microSIM

Additional Features

 

Lumia 1520: HERE Maps, HERE Drive+, HERE Transit, Creative Studio, Cinemagraph, Panorama, Nokia Storyteller, Remote device locking via Internet, Secure NFC, Track and Protect via internet, Firmware update, Remote wipe of user data via Internet, Device lock, Device passcode, PIN code, Firmware and OS integrity check, Secure device start-up, Online back-up and restore, Application sandboxing and integrity check, built-in Microsoft Office, Live Tiles, People Hub, SkyDrive

Lumia 1320: HERE Maps, HERE Drive, Nokia Storyteller, Remote device locking via Internet, Track and Protect via internet, Firmware update, Remote wipe of user data via Internet, Device lock, Device passcode, PIN code, Firmware and OS integrity check, Secure device start-up, Online back-up and restore, Application sandboxing and integrity check, built-in Microsoft Office, SkyDrive

Galaxy Note III: Group Play which allows you to share music, photos, videos, documents and even play games; Story Album, S Translator, Smart features such as Smart Scroll, Smart Pause, Air Gesture and Air View, ChatON, WatchON, S Voice, S Health, Samsung Adapt Display, Samsung Adapt Sound, auto adjust touch sensitivity which means you can use it even when you’re wearing gloves, Samsung Link, screen mirroring, Safety Assistance, Samsung KNOX, and other features that would help you accomplishing tasks faster.

Galaxy MEGA: Samsung Apps, Samsung WatchONS Travel, Story Album, Kies(Windows & Mac), Kies air

Xperia Z Ultra: super responsive screen with handwriting recognition, easy-toggle keyboard, Battery STAMINA Mode, “WALKMAN”, Album and Movies media applications, an impressive rating of IP55 and IP58 which makes it both dust resistant and waterproof

Optimus G Pro: Quick Memo, Live Zooming, Screen Zooming, Message Wallpaper, Icon personalizer, Application Link, Dual Screen, QSLIDE

Butterfly S: BlinkFeed, BoomSound, Zoe, Video Highlights

Can the Lumia phablets standout?

 

If you want to standout in terms of vibrant colors, your best bet is the Lumia 1520 or 1320. The two phablets are bigger and heavier compared to the Galaxy Note III, so if you think the Note III is already too big for you, you might not like the Lumia phablets.  The good thing about this being big is that it will allow you to be more productive as both devices have Microsoft Office pre-installed, so you can start working on your computer and continue with it while on the go, using one of the two Lumia devices.  And with SkyDrive, users can access their data anytime, anywhere.  Aside from that, the Lumia devices are built for BYOD because of its security features.

If you are interested in the Lumia phablets, the Lumia 1520 will cost  $749 and will start rolling this quarter in the following markets: Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States, China and Europe (including Finland, France, Germany, and the UK), other markets will follow.  For the Lumia 1320, the device is much cheaper at $339, and will be available first in China and Vietnam in early 2014, followed by other Asian markets, India and European markets.

Want to see more? Check out our Smart+Connected Devices collection on Springpad.


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